Maximum length: 2,000 words.

Descriptive title

The title should include a core finding or argument of the article.

Article’s lead [50 to 100 words]

The “lead” of an article attracts the curiosity of the readers. It presents one or two highlights from the article. For example, the lead could focus on one of the most important findings or implications discussed in the paper. This is NOT an abstract and it should NOT provide a comprehensive overview of the paper.

Introduction [150 to 300 words]

First, briefly present the key argument(s) that you are deriving from your evidence-based research in formatting and language that are easily understandable for a non-specialist audience with a professional interest in misinformation (e.g., journalists, educators, policymakers, politicians).

Second, discuss the significance and implications of your argument. What recommendations can you provide, and to whom, based on your argument and findings? For example, can your argument and findings inform the design of novel policies, infrastructural interventions, or educational programs? 

Use clear, accessible language that avoids academic jargon.

Use in-text citations and place all citations as references at the end, rather than as footnotes. Use footnotes only to provide additional content to supplement the text.

Subsections [1,400 words]

Divide your key points in sections. Each section should have a subtitle that helps clarify the argument presented. However, you must present your argument(s) in formatting and language that are easily understandable for a non-specialist audience with a professional interest in misinformation.

Conclusions [200 to 300 words]

Lastly, write a short conclusion paragraph, clearly outlining your argument(s) and findings. The conclusion must be logically consequential to the argument(s) presented. Remember: Use clear, accessible language that avoids academic jargon.

Bibliography

All citations must be listed at the end of the text file, in alphabetical order of authors’ surnames. Citations should be submitted in APA 7 format (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition). A helpful guide with detailed examples is available from the Purdue Writing Lab at: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_basic_rules.html

Acknowledgements [optional]

Any acknowledgements must be headed and in a separate paragraph, placed after the main text but before the bibliography.

Funding

Should the research have received a funding grant, then the grant provider and grant number should be detailed. If no funding was received, please state: “No financial support was received for this study.”

Competing interests

Authors are required to declare any competing interests that may be perceived as contributing to potential bias. Examples include funding for a research program or employment by, consulting for, or stocks/shares in an organization that could be financially affected by the publication of a paper, as well as patents or patent applications whose value may be affected by the publication of the paper. Authors are required to provide a statement listing any competing interests, which is published in their article. If there are no competing interests to declare then please state: “None.”

Ethics [optional]

Where applicable, studies must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee and the authors should include a statement within the article text detailing this approval, including the name of the ethics committee and reference number of the approval. The identity of the research subject(s) should be anonymized whenever possible. For research involving human subjects, informed consent to participate in the study must be obtained from participants (or their legal guardian) and added to this statement. If a study involving human subjects/tissue/data was exempt from requiring ethical approval, a confirmation statement from the relevant body should be included within the submission.

When ethnicity/gender are reported, define who determined ethnicity/gender categories, whether the options were defined by the investigator and, if so, what they were and why ethnicity/gender are considered important in the study.

Copyright

Copyright and publishing rights remain with the author/s of the article/s. All articles published in the journal can be reused under the following CC license: CC BY-SA Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.